


This is War

by The_Pen_Dragon



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternia, Can we call Sollux x Aradia Araptor, F/F, F/M, It's pretty much mostly Davekat, M/M, davekat - Freeform, humans are basically considered a lower species, non SGrub AU, rosemary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-03-01 06:49:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 12,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2763671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Pen_Dragon/pseuds/The_Pen_Dragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat assumes the role of the signless, hoping to succeed where he failed. Along the path to the final battle, the trolls encounter the humans, a species not even considered intelligent. Until now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Let's Start a Riot

He stood tall against the harsh Alternian horizon, or, as tall as a troll of five-foot-two could stand. He looked almost majestic standing there, his wind blown hair ruffled in the wind, his cloak billowing out behind him. He clung tightly to the cloth, wrapping it firmly around himself. Underneath it he wore a sleeveless turtleneck shirt and black leggings that clung to him more tightly then he would have liked. His irises burned an intense red, giving away his blood color with no cuts having to mark him. He inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the early morning air, it smelled bitter.

A delicate hand rested on his shoulder, "Karkat, you're too young to-" 

He cut her off, "I am not too young to do this Kanaya. I appreciate your concern, but this over complex hemospectrum has gone on fucking long enough. We can succeed where the signless failed, we can /do/ this Kanaya," he growled, a determined spark in his young eyes. He and his small group of rebels were only eleven sweeps old, but it was old enough to Karkat.

Kanaya's now shoulder-length hair ruffled out behind her as she stood next to karkat, trying to envision the future he saw. She had faith in him, but she doubted that would be enough. She wrapped her jade shawl more tightly around her shoulders, her black tunic and skirt-pants did little to keep out the cold air.

***

"Ith he thtill planning on going through with thith?" Sollux asked Kanaya as she re-entered their makeshift home in a cave.

"Yes, he is quite certain that this is the right path for us. We need to all put our trust in him, or else we will fail, do you understand?" She replied somberly, glowering at Sollux.

Sollux put on his silver headband, which was branded with the cancer symbol, and stood up, it resonated blue and red in the center of his forehead and made wrist straps of the same color glow as well.

"I underthtand perfectly," he replied, his lisp making him sound only slightly less intimidating.

Nepeta's tail lashed and she shook her head, waist-length hair flying about, "anywhere Karkat leads us I will go!" She cried determinedly.

Terezi stood up and slammed her hands on the table, "FOR JUSTICE!" She proclaimed, her smile showing off razor sharp teeth.

"Good then, please get your weapons, Karkat informed me that it is time to make our first attack on the high bloods," Kanaya said matter of factly, grabbing her own chainsaw and exiting.

Karkat held out his sickles at arms length, taking in the harsh Alternian rays of the sun. Trolls weren't meant to be out in this, but his hot low-blood temperatures could handle it better then the cold blooded sea dwellers.

"Under the guithe of the thun, we make our firtht thtrike," Sollux said, narrowing his eyes against the bright day.

"It's dangerous to do this karkat," Terezi commented as they trekked to high blood territory, "if we get caught we won't be in any condition to fight in this sunlight. Well except Kanaya."

"But neither will they," karkat growled in response, eyes never wavering from his still invisible target.

"We're almost there, I can smell them," Nepeta hissed, holding her claws at the ready.

Karkat stopped as soon as the place came into view, "we should split off from here, we can cover more ground that way, and we'll draw less attention to ourselves."

The others murmured in agreement and split off, disappearing into the woods.

"And be careful of humans, some of them roam these woods," Kanaya added before they left.

Karkat took a deep breath and faded into the undergrowth, it was finally time to start this war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay everybody, from here the story splits into individual POVs, so be ready for that. Actually, be ready for anything. Alright team, break!


	2. Into the Wood

Kanaya trudged through the swampy marshes of the Alternian glade, her team had a plan, and they were sticking to it. At the edge of the highbloods' realm, each of the four trolls were to spread out, making camp at the four further most corners of the giant castle, and then take out the guards. Then they would rendezvous at the main gate, and prepare for their final front on the rulers. They had to find a place to wait for Terezi to finish her task first though, she would contact them when her mission was complete. Terezi, the fifth member of their party, was tasked to eliminate an elite warrior of the sea trolls, she was a pirate at heart and struck down every other rebellion attempt with ease. They had known her when they were young, though now she went under the guise of Mindfang, she was once known as Vriska Serket. Kanaya hated her, but she was Terezi's target, not hers.

Kanya's first priority, now that she had covered some ground, was to find a place to rest and get her bearings.

She found a desolate cave a few miles into the woods, and stopped to investigate it, and perhaps rest there.

She carefully climbed down the short, steep ridge before the cavern and cautiously walked inside. A small noise inside made her stop and whip out her chainsaw. Her glowing skin easily illuminated the cave, so the shadow of the figure before her came into view.

"Who's in here?" Kanaya demanded.

"The current tenant of this residence if you so please," a feminine, sharp reply came.

Kanaya lowered her weapon and took a step forward as the figure came into full view.

A loose white cloth was draped across the frail creature, a female it appeared. She would have had a willowy build if not for her bony condition. Her joints jutted out at sharp angles, and her blonde hair was shoulder length, it was jagged as if cut hastily by a knife. Somehow though, she still had a sense of beauty, and held herself in a way that almost demanded respect. Her lack of horns and cream white skin told Kanaya that the girl was a human.

They both tensed up at the sight of each other, the two species (that weren't lusi) that inhabited Alternia did not usually interact, and humans had always been considered just another wild forest creature. Kanaya was shocked that this one not only spoke, but in a way that showed great intelligence.

"I apologize for entering your home uninvited miss, I was just traveling, and in need of a place to rest," Kanaya said, motioning to her pack of meager supplies.

The human tilted her head, contemplating, "It is quite alright vampiress, and I will even let you stay, but only if you give me some of your food."

Kanaya nodded gratefully, "it's a deal. By the way, since I am to be here awhile, I feel pleasantries are in order. I am Kanaya, what is your name?"

The human scanned Kanaya warily, "Rose is the name I was given. So Kanaya, why is a troll of your cultural status alone in the woods, conversing with a human?"

"Well Rose, the highbloods are a tyranny, and a friend of mine, he is staging a violent protest as it were. I am helping to eliminate this illusion of blood casts that separate us. Tell me something Rose human, humans have always seemed an animalistic tribe of unthinking troll-like creatures. At least that is how we learned about them, so how is it that you are so astoundingly like myself in intellect and manners?"

"Theories, placed in your head by the batterwitch and sewn into your cranial cavity by displays of poor rebellion attempts of our own. We humans wish to live harmoniously with trolls, not forced to live in sparse groups in the wilderness. We are actually a smart race, generally speaking," Rose replied.

Kanaya has just met this Rose human, yet she felt a bond already forming. She had always thought humans were as useless as nut creatures in water, but this human, this girl, she was intelligent, well groomed for such poor living conditions, and even well versed in troll culture. Kanaya felt a sudden need to speak out for this underrated species. And an idea sparked in her think pan.

"Help us with our rebellion," Kanaya said.

"What? Why?" Rise replied, shocked by the suggestion.

"Help us overthrow the monarchy, we can show the trolls that humans are worth more than dirt, we can convince them to let you become a part of our culture. But we cannot do it unless my friends and I succeed in taking control of the government, so what do you say?"

Rose pursed her lips and squinted at Kanaya, trying to tell if the troll was lying, "maybe," she finally replied.

"I'll get to know you while you're here, then make up my mind about your cause. Now, can we eat? I haven't had anything but berries and a squirrel all week," she finished.

"Of course," Kanaya said, unpacking, "but um...what is a squirrel?"

Rose chuckled, "squirrel is the human word for nut creature."


	3. A New Travel Companion

Karkat tramped through the forest, he was to far in the undergrowth to be heard anyway. He was filled with so many swirling emotions and thoughts about the battle about to ensue that he didn't even notice when he stepped off a ledge. Then it was too late. It went about ten feet down on a steep incline, and karkat yelled profanities the whole way down.

"Shit fuck damn mother of GOD that hurt!" He said, rubbing his head and sitting up.

A sudden fit of laughter made him snap his head around, "what? Who's there? And stop fucking laughing!"

Then a human fell out of a tree and practically into the small troll's lap.

It's ruby eyes got wide and it's face turned red, "oh fuck," it muttered, scrambling to get up.

The human was bigger than karkat, but the troll was stronger and easily held the human down, "what were you doing in that tree? And why the fuck are you in troll territory? And....and you can speak?"

The human rolled it's eyes, "duh. Of course humans talk. We aren't barkbeasts."

Karkat was dumbfounded, he didn't know humans were in any way intelligent, and dammit this male one was kind of attractive.

He was wearing tattered pants that he probably stole, and his ivory skin had the sleek muscle definition of a trained fighter. His pale face and sun bleached hair made his dazzlingly red eyes stand out even more. An amused smile tugged at his lips, which was odd considering he was currently being held captive by karkat.

"You know, in this light you're kinda cute," the human said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Karkat let go and jumped away from the human boy, "what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Nothing, you let go didn't you?" He replied smugly, jumping up and spinning into a fighting stance with expert skill.

"So are you gonna go on, or do you want to try and fight me troll?" The blonde asked. His toned physique was similar to karkat's, only the human was taller and not quite as frail looking. Karkat knew if he took him on it would be a challenge, he could even lose to the boy.

Karkat started to tell the human good riddance and go on his way, but dammit he was so wired with all those plans running rampant in his head. He needed to let off some steam to calm down, and this human just waltzed up and offered him an opportunity.

So karkat flashed the young man a toothy grin and shed his cloak, revealing thin but strong arms. His sleeveless turtleneck felt absolutely perfect for battle, for some reason the human was just staring at him, not moving yet.

"You gonna stand there gaping or fucking fight me?" Karkat growled, stepping into a fighting stance of his own.

The human smirked, "you're going to lose you know."

Then he was a blur, and karkat had the wind knocked out of him. The world spun for a second, but he regained his balance and swung out, catching the human under the chin and sending him flying into a tree.

He hit it and then used it to propel himself back at karkat, as if his now bleeding nose had no effect on him.

Karkat was thrown off guard for a second, not expecting such fast retaliation, and his hands flew up just in time to block the onslaught of punches.

A few more expert kicks and some fancy blocks later and still neither had the upper hand. Karkat punched one more time, connecting with empty air as the human shot behind him. Then his feet were swept off the ground and he hit the forest floor, exhaling sharply as the human's weight landed on him.

He reached up to push the human off, but quick as a flash the boy pinned karkat's hands down, the troll had clearly lost this fight.

"Fine, you aren't half bad human, now what are you going to do?" Karkat asked, almost dreading the answer.

"I like you enough that I won't kill you. But I think names would be in order. Mine is Dave, what would yours be helpless troll?" He answered, pushing karkat's wrists down a little more as he spoke.

"I fucking hate you human...but it's Karkat. Now get the fuck off of me," karkat said, bucking his hips to throw Dave off of him.

Dave smirked, "say please, karkat."

Karkat groaned, "please get off of me before I rip your bulge off and stuff it down your protein chute."

Dave blinked, "close enough," then he got up and offered the troll a hand.

Karkat begrudgingly accepted it and stood up.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my merry fucking way," karkat hissed.

"I'm going too," Dave replied simply, walking behind the troll.

"Ugh, no. Bad human. Stay," Karkat groaned, knowing Dave would never listen to him.

"Nah. Whatever you're doing is sure to be more interesting than just hanging out in the woods," Dave answered stubbornly.

"Fine. But if you're coming with me you're fighting with me.With skill like that you'd do well against our enemies," karkat said.

Dave grinned, "yeah, I have enough skill to beat you anyway."

Karkat turned slightly red and gave the human a hard shove, "You just surprised me! I could tear you apart if I wanted."

"Doubt it," Dave replied.

Karkat just growled.


	4. A New Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I did my best to find some sort of way to have Sollux and Aradia communicate without Aradia knowing the typical Alternian dialect. Since this is a non-SGRUB AU where they all grew up differently than in canon, Aradia is a member of the same lost Weeaboos that Damara and Rufioh were, she can't speak anything but that Alternian dialect, but can understand a small amount of the typical troll speak. If there are any more questions or if you spot something I need to fix, please feel free to speak up in the comments!

He blinked hazily, it was very late at night and Sollux had just woken up to a rustling noise. Still half asleep, he fumbled around for his flashlight, gave up, and used his psychic glow to illuminate the area. He blinked in surprise when he saw a troll-like silhouette sifting through the contents of his bag.

"H-hey! That'th not yourth!" He called, jumping up and illuminating the figure fully.

It was a troll girl, shorter that Sollux by half a foot, black wavy hair looped in semi-tangled clumps all the way down to her waist, and her rust red eyes were wide with fear. She had large horns reminiscent of a ram, and her full, red lips struggled to find words to get her out of this situation. Sollux noticed how skinny the girl was, so scrawny that her thin rag dress hung away from what little frame she had. 

"Hey wait!" Sollux called when she turned to flee.

She surprisingly stopped, turning around slowly, eyes still wide as saucers.

"You look hungry...ith that what you want? Food?" He asked, moving closer slowly.

The girl nodded, still ready to abscond at a moment's notice.

"It'th okay, here, you can have thome," Sollux said softly, trying not to scare the girl. He pulled some of the bread out of his bag and held it out to her.

She reached out slowly, then snatched it quickly, probably afraid he would try and grab her.

Sollux waited patiently as she devoured the bread. Then she looked at him, studying his glowing eyes. She smiled warmly, trying to thank him.

"Arigatoo," she said in a soft, melodious tone.

Sollux blinked in surprise, she was speaking another language. He concluded that she must be part of the lost Weeaboo tribe. Unfortunately, Sollux couldn't speak in that Alternian dialect.

He smiled back though, "you...you are welcome, I think?"

She inched closer, eyeing the bag again. Sollux laughed lightly, "you want thome more huh? Well okay. Come over here and I'll cook thomething."

Sollux walked over to his earlier extinguished fire and got it started again, motioning for her to follow. The girl walked over cautiously, then settled down by the flames. Sollux cooked some of the forest creature meat he had caught and gave it to her.

She murmured appreciatively and ate it. She smiled, seeming full, and said something that sounded like a question.

"N...name?" Sollux asked, pointing to himself.

She nodded and pointed at him, "nam," she repeated the new word the best she could.

"Thollux...without a lithp though...what about you?" He asked.

"Sollux," she repeated slowly, then pointed to herself, "Aradia."

Sollux smiled, "that'th a pretty name. Tho, do you have any family Aradia?"

She looked confused, so Sollux drew a small tribe of trolls in the dust and pointed at it, "tribe? Family?"

She shook her head no and stared sadly into the flames.

"What happened to them?" Sollux asked, pointing again to the stick drawing and making a question mark next to it.

She puffed out her cheeks and held up her hands to either side of her face, acting like they were fins, then she pointed to the fire.

"The royalth killed your family?" Sollux asked, drawing a sea troll with a pitchfork to illustrate his words.

Aradia nodded, then pointed to herself and frowned.

"Are you the latht one?" He erased the other trolls so there was only one and a question mark.

Another nod.

Sollux wanted to console the troll, but wasn't really sure how, so instead he suggested something, slowly, so she might understand, "well...if you want....you could come with me. I can give you more food, but I'm going to a battle againtht the fish queen, tho it'll be dangerouth."

Aradia made a determined face and nodded, clapping her fist into her open palm.

"You want to fight her too?" Sollux asked, hoping she was understanding him.

Aradia nodded, then gently took Sollux's hand and looked him in the eyes, trying to find the words to thank him. He understood though, clasping her hand for a second and nodding before releasing it.

He put out the fire again and gave Aradia a spare blanket. She wrapped it around her and lay on the ground near Sollux, clearly happy to be in the company of a troll again.

Sollux went back to sleep, wondering how the others would feel about him picking up another troll, and also happy that he helped someone before the queen had even been overthrown.


	5. The Girl With Barkbeast Ears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter is really short compared to the others. I feel like I'm not terribly good at writing Jade and Nepeta in character, enjoy this short chapter!

Nepeta flew between the trees with practiced ease, her mutant tail lashing about playfully as she chased her lunch high into the treetops.

She reached out to deal the nut creature a final blow, when suddenly an arrow whizzed by, snapping the nut creature's head into the tree.

"That was /my/ lunch!" Nepeta cried indignantly.

More arrows shot up towards her. She hissed and scampered down the tree, coming face to face with the archer. A human girl with her black hair and a feral green gaze. Next to her was a troll with bull horns and a timid demeanor.

"Why are you shooting at me human?" Nepeta growled, noting the spark of fire in the human's eyes.

"I hunt intruders. You are an intruder," she replied bluntly, pointing the arrow at nepeta's head and flattening her strange white barkbeast ears. Nepeta had never seen a human with barkbeast ears, or any human actually.

Nepeta hissed, "don't even try it! I'll eat the both if you for lunch to make up for that nut creature!"

"Uh...shouldn't we talk about this before fighting? Jade? Angry cat warrior? We...don't need to fight..." The timid troll interjected, trying to stand between the two females.

"She is an intruder, and a mid blood, she is our enemy Tavros," the human girl growled, pulling the bowstring back.

"You are a human and a Weeaboo, you have not bothered to ask me why I am here, and I have no time for chit chat," Nepeta growled, holding up her metal claws.

Tavros gulped, he didn't want anyone to die, and knew Jade would take a prisoner before kill, so he did the only thing he could think of. He slipped a dart tipped with sleeping aid out of his pouch and threw it with great precision at Nepeta.

Her eyes widened as the dart stuck her between the eyes, "What...is this?" Nepeta asked, already feeling the effects.

"A sleeping dart, this way no one gets hurt," Tavros replied.

Jade lowered her weapon, "good idea Tavros, we'll just take her prisoner."

Nepeta tried to mumble a few more words, but they came out in a slurry, and the ground felt like it has been torn away from her. She toppled over, completely unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone asks, I'm not exactly sure how Jade would've ended up with dog ears, it's a little plot hole I'm still working on. If anyone has suggestions I'd love to hear them!


	6. Scourge Sisters

Terezi sniffed the air, it smelled like trouble was lurking nearby, the trouble the Terezi was looking for.

She grinned toothily, her fang-like teeth glinting dangerously in the sun.

"I know you're there, I can smell it," Terezi said into the seemingly empty woods, "why not come out and play? You know you want to."

Terezi's pointed ear twitched at the sound of rustling plants, then the sound of footsteps.

"Does the prosecution wish to make a statement? Or will she proceed with an arrest?" The familiar voice whispered into Terezi's ear. 

Terezi grinned, Vriska sounded just like she remembered, every bit as elegant as she was dangerous, and she was very, very dangerous.

"The prosecution rested on the day she lost her eyes. This is not a matter of law," Terezi growled, she had been anticipating this for a long time, "but a matter of justice."

Terezi unsheathed her dual swords and turned, crossing them at the base is vriska's throat with deadly accuracy.

Vriska's fanged mouth quivered just slightly, and she watched as a few strands of hair that the blade had cut fell to the ground.

The two were silent for a long time, other than the slight movement of vriska's coat and the two girls' hair in the breeze, it would have looked like a photograph. The blades were cutting ever so slightly into vriska's skin, but Vriska's double edged katana was pressing just as menacingly into Terezi's back. The two were equally fast, and had unknowingly drawn their weapons at the same time, now locked in close proximity, neither knew what move to make next.

"You're every bit as good as I remember, even without your eyesight," Vriska murmured.

"And you're still a rotten bitch," Terezi rasped.

Vriska smiled venomously, the point of her katana slowly getting stained teal, "the defense has the prosecution in quite the compromising position, should she make the wrong move, the prosecution will truly rest, indefinitely."

Terezi felt a growl rise in the back of her throat, and she let her blades press ever so slightly further against vriska's skin. Dark blue welled over the silver, threatening to drip down the blade, "the prosecution isn't scared of the defense, and one scourge sister will be dead by the end of this day."

Vriska looked unconcerned, and reached her free hand up to lightly brush Terezi's hair out of her face, "you're just stunning, you know that?" Vriska hissed.

Terezi grinned wickedly, "it's like we're locked in a dance, but who will be leading?"

Vriska smirked and twisted the blade, attempting to impale the teal-blood. Terezi slid her blades back and twisted around, dashing under Vriska so she nearly impaled herself instead.

"So me then?" Terezi asked, chuckling evilly. 

Vriska gasped as she narrowly missed stabbing herself, then just managed to flip away before Terezi could strike her. The two ran at each other, blades swishing through the air, battle made even more intense by the heat of the green sun. Something that affected Terezi and Veiska about the same. In fact, after just a few minutes, the sun baked clearing was making both trolls dizzy.

Terezi got Vriska against a tree and pressed a blade against her throat and one against her stomach, "any last words before the prosecution ends you?" Terezi hissed, thankful for her slightly lower blood.

Vriska only smirked, "yes. What took you so long?"

Terezi raised and eyebrow in confusion, then gasped as a pain shot through her stomach. She turned and hazily saw a human. He was dressed in black and blue and had a bow in hand.

"Sorry ma'am," the human muttered, bowing clumsily. His raven hair fell in his face slightly and his buck toothed mouth quivered, like he was afraid of Vriska. Of course, who wasn't?  
Vriska walked over and smacked the boy, cursing at him for being so late, then she turned back to Terezi, who was pushing an arrow out of her abdomen.

"Looks like the defense has the upper hand," Vriska snickered, kicking Terezi over.

Terezi fell with a 'thump' and glowerd at Vriska. Vriska put a foot on her back, right over where the arrow had been, and bent down, lifting Terezi's face to meet her own.

"So good to see you again though, really it is," she said, grinning wickedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun with this chapter, Terezi and Vriska's relationship dynamic is one of my favorites. I hope I kept them both in character well. 
> 
> As for the sudden appearance of John, since humans are considered a lower species in Alternia, I thought it would be reasonable that a higher mid-blood like Vriska would want to use one as a sort of servant. The same way the high bloods used low bloods as servants back when the Condescension ruled.


	7. Red Intentions

Karkat woke up to see another figure sleeping not to far away from him, he made a small startled noise, then remembered that the Dave human had insisted on following him around. He was hoping Dave would've left during the night, to go and sleep in a tree or something instead if the cave karkat had found for shelter, but at the same time he was kind of glad to see the ivory boy still there. Karkat would never admit it, but he actually liked the company of others sometimes, even if those 'others' were a deranged human ass hat that was so damn attractive it hurt karkat's think pan.  
Dave yawned and rolled over lazily, closer to karkat than the troll was comfortable with, and slung a pale arm over him.

Karkat hissed menacingly at him, "Dave get your arm the fuck off of me! It's bad enough you insisted on sleeping a few feet away!"

"But you're warm and I'm cold," Dave complained, only pulling the troll closer. Karkat growled, but the warmth of the human did feel nice, so he didn't really /want/ to move. However, Karkat moved anyway, on principle. He clocked Dave in the jaw and stood up.

"Stay the fuck off of me. And if you're insisting on following me around like a mentally impaired barkbeast, then at least help me catch breakfast," karkat said angrily, pulling his cloak off the rock he'd hung it on and putting it on.

Dave groaned and got up too, "fiiine. Jeez you're bossy. But you're cute so it's alright." Dave smirked at karkat's blush and went outside.

"I am not cute you fuckstick!" Karkat called after him, running outside too.

"Can you be serious for two gog damn seconds?" Karkat huffed, looking around for anything suitable to eat.

"What's the fun in that?" Dave replied, eyeing a chirp-beast.

"You're hopeless," karkat grumbled.

The two hunted for awhile, and managed to catch two chirp-beasts and a nut creature.

Karkat set up a fire in the cave while Dave pulled the feathers off of the dead chirp-beasts.

"Why the hell are you still here?" Karkat asked after awhile, "don't you have a human tribe that will miss you or something?"

Dave chuckled coldly, "don't get all worried or anything. No, I don't have a 'tribe', or a family. Surely trolls know what a family is, right?"

Karkat nodded, his group of friends was his family.

"Good, well then I'll tell you that mine is dead. Now don't be all shocked or anything, but the Batterwitch doesn't exactly like humans, so she kills every one she finds," Dave said, ripping out a few feathers a little more violently than intended.

Karkat looked at Dave, then back at the small fire, he felt like he should give the human a moment alone to grieve or something.

"I'm...sorry. I don't know what that's like...must be awful," was all he could think to say.

Dave just nodded slightly, "how could you? Trolls aren't even raised by other trolls, so it'd be a hard concept for you to grasp."

Karkat shook his head, "well usually we're raised by lusi, but my friends and I actually raised each other in a way, ever since we were just out of the wriggler stage, we looked after each other. All of our lusi died, so we were all we had."

Karkat didn't know why he was trusting the human enough to tell him this, but he felt like he needed to say something, Dave seemed really upset, and for some reason that upset Karkat.

"I see, well then I guess you might understand how sad someone who lost family would be. I finished pulling out the feathers," Dave replied, putting the two now skewered and featherless chirp-beasts by the fire.

Over the next couple of days, Karkat started to dislike the human less and less, though he did still annoy the fuck out of him a lot.  
Karkat was stuck where he was until he got word from Terezi, so he was actually kind of grateful to have the human around for company.

The third night that they were in the cave, karkat was starting to get concerned about Terezi.

"What's the matter Karkitten?" Dave asked, knowing the nickname aggravated Karkat.

"Don't call me that ass hat. I'm worried about my friend Terezi, she's supposed to send word when she's killed that pirate bitch...I didn't think it would take her this long," karkat replied, his usual anger replaced by concern.

Dave scooted a little closer to the troll, "she's probably fine, didn't you say before that she was blind? Maybe it's just taking her longer than you thought to find the pirate chick or something."

Karkat chuckled, "you're actually trying to make me feel better? I must sound pretty pathetic if even you've stopped being an ass."

"We'll excuse me for trying to be a friend," Dave huffed in mock indignity.

"Oh please, you love getting on my nerves, you're closer to a Kismesis than a friend," karkat replied jokingly.

"Kismesis? So you do like me," Dave said, smirking.

Karkat blushed slightly, "what? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Well Kismesis would mean that you hate me a little, but you still totally want to makeout," Dave chuckled.

Karkat facepalmed, "you're impossible."

"I'm taking that as acceptance of my statement," Dave said, "just so you know."

Karkat sighed in annoyance and lay down several feet away from the human. Karkat would never admit it out loud, but he did think of Dave in that way sometimes. He couldn't help it if the human's eyes bored into your soul. Karkat shivered slightly, trying not to imagine Dave in a non-platonic way, and failing. Karkat closed his eyes and thought about the human's perfect face, his strange pale skin and lack of horns. Other than that he wasn't very different from a troll. Karkat was still angry at himself for feeling any form of attraction to another species though, no matter how similar.

Dave ignored the fact that Karkat had deliberately lay down far away from him, and got up to go lay next to karkat.

Sleeping at night instead of in the day was still weird for karkat, so he was fully aware of the human laying down next to him. He growled, but Dave ignored it and slipped an arm around karkat, pulling the smaller troll close to him. Karkat hissed and started to kick away from Dave, but the human's other hand started gently rubbing the back of his neck, which is something Kanaya used to do to calm him down when he was little. Karkat's protests stopped after a minute, turning to soft purrs as the human continued rubbing the back of his neck.

Dave chuckled, "you're a lot like a meoebeast, you know that?"

Karkat started to swear at him for the comparison, but Dave felt so warm and nice that he just let it go this time, choosing to instead press his face into the human's chest. Karkat felt like he should push the human away, swear at him and refuse to lay near him, but wow this closeness was something karkat wasn't used to, and it felt really nice. He liked the sensation of someone else's hands on his back and neck, and no one but the human was around to see karkat have this moment of weakness anyway.

"I don't think I've ever seen you like this karkitten, I have only known you for three days, but I bet you don't usually do this," Dave noted.

"I'm starting to regret not pushing you away sooner," karkat grumbled. 

Dave chuckled and just kept rubbing karkat's neck. Then he used his other hand and scratched his back, which made karkat purr even more, to his own embarrassment. Karkat pressed against the human and softly kneaded his hands on Dave's chest. 

Dave smiled, though karkat couldn't see it since his eyes were closed, and decided to do something a little risky. Okay a lot risky.

Dave pushed the troll back slightly, to which karkat whined lowly in disappointment. Then Dave tilted his head up, so their eyes were level.

Karkat looked into the red irises, confused, "Dave, what the fuck are you doing?" 

Dave didn't answer, instead he leaned forward, barely brushing his lips against karkat's. karkat started to close his eyes, anticipating the kiss, when suddenly his communicator buzzed. Karkat sprang away from Dave and grabbed it, "hello? GC?"

"Plans have changed. I'm in pursuit, but you'll have to go ahead with the plan, now! gallowsCalibrator out!" Terezi's voice rasped at the other end of line before beeping out again.

Karkat turned back to Dave, who was waiting patiently, "so then, should we get going?"

Karkat's face turned red when he remembered what he had been about to do before Terezi called, "yes. We should leave now, it's almost light again anyway."

"Right," Dave nodded, getting up, "I do expect that kiss later though," he said, smiling playfully.

Karkat growled and snatched his cloak, "you just shut the fuck up," karkat hissed before leaving the cave.

"It'll happen, you'll see!" Dave said, following him.


	8. The Time for Action

"So you're saying that humans all have the same blood color?" Kanaya said in amazement. She and Rose were discussing cultural differences and similarities, something both were very happy to do. In the couple of days that Kanaya had been there, Rose had become a bit less emaciated, and Kanaya only grew fonder of the human.

It was decently cold at night, and though kanaya's jade blood made her cooler than a low blood, she would still snuggle up next to the human to provide some warmth. The two were currently laying down, with Rose in the Vampiress's arms, discussing human blood color.

"Yes, it's all bright red, a color not in your hemospectrum," Rose said. She had come to trust the troll somewhat, and after hearing about her friends and their mission, she was honestly considering helping. It could mean good news for the humans too.

"Do you not have castes then?" Kanaya asked, curious at the prospect of a single blood color.

"No we do, they're just not as strict or prominent. Usually we're separated by family relations and our skill set," Rose replied.

Kanaya nodded, listening as Rose went on to describe human castes. She found it all very interesting, but after awhile she nodded off.

Rose stopped talking when the Vampiress's head hit her shoulder, dead asleep. 

"Huh? Oh dear, you've fallen asleep right in the middle of our discussion...ah well, I suppose it's time to sleep anyway," Rose sighed, adjusting the troll's arms around her.  
"You really aren't what I expected a troll to be...this alliance may succeed yet."

The two has only been asleep for an hour or two when Kanaya's communicator went off. The troll woke up quickly and snatched it, "hello? gallowsCallibrator?"

"Not quite, she said plans have changed, we need to move now! carcinoGenetisist out!" Karkat's voice crackled from the other end. Kanaya clicked the communicator off and turned to Rose, who was drearily rubbing her eyes.

"I must take my leave now Rose human, thank you for you hospitality," Kanaya said, heading towards the exit, "keep that shawl, it'll keep you warm at night."

Rose looked down at the jade shawl the two has been using as a blanket, "thank you...may I...still go with you?"

Kanaya looked back at Rose, somewhat surprised, "You actually want to? If that's the case, then I'd love to have you along. Try not to die though."

Rose smiled cunningly, "do I seem the type to die easily?"

Kanaya smiled in return, offering the human a hand, "well come on then, we can't dawdle."

Rose nodded and the two hurried out of the cave, headed off to finally face the highbloods.


	9. Unspoken Words

Sollux's eyes opened slowly against the harsh light, he hated the day time. When his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he saw the beautiful Weeaboo troll asleep next to him, a tangled mess of blankets and hair. He smiled softly, she looked like she was sleeping well.

Deciding to let her keep sleeping, Sollux carefully got up and went over to his bag to see what he had left for food. A decent sized chunk of bread, a globed fruit Kanaya had said was packed with nutrients, a canteen of water, and some forest creature meat that would likely spoil soon. Yes, he could make a decent breakfast with that.

Aradia stirred about ten minutes later, awoken by the aroma of cooking meat.

"Anata wa tabemono o tsukutte iru?" She asked quietly.

"Huh? Food?" Sollux asked, pointing to the meat roasting in the fire.

Aradia nodded, "Tabemono...food."

Sollux smiled, "uh yeah, I'm making Tabemono. You hungry?"

Aradia smiled at Sollux and untangled herself from the blankets, skittering over to sit near the flames.  
"Han..gry? Tabemono!" She said, not quite understanding Sollux's question.

Sollux chuckled and served her some of the meat. She thanked him and ate, looking so incredibly happy. Sollux wished he could understand her when she talked, but he figured that it didn't really matter right now, they understood each other enough.

Over the next couple of days Sollux learned a few new words in Weeaboo, and Aradia seemed to be picking up on his Alternian dialect somewhat as well. She helped him hunt and, as it turned out, she was quite the hunter. She made traps more expertly than Sollux could've dreamed of, knew which berries were good for eating and which ones were better for catching food, and every time she killed a creature, she apologized to it and seemed to be wishing it a safe journey. Sollux found that interesting, and asked her about it.

"Hey Aradia, what exactly are you thaying to thothe creatureth when they die?" Sollux asked as Aradia pulled a dead hop creature from a snare.

She scrunched her nose thoughtfully, mostly understanding Sollux's question, and said the best she could, "I...wish them safe."

Sollux tilted his head, confused with her answer. She shook her head and took his hand in hers, "here, copy."

She put his hand on the hop creature and out her own on it as well.

"Anata no...jinsei o toru...tame ni watashi...o yurushite..." She said slowly, pausing in between for Sollux to copy her, "shigo no sekai...e no tabi...ga anzendearu...koto."

Halfway through, Sollux realized it was a prayer of sorts. He could feel it, the compassion she had for this creature, and he just knew. She was asking its forgiveness, and praying for it to be safe on it's way to the next place. He smiled softly, it was so amazing, and so sad at the same time. Aradia was truly something special.

She looked at him and smiled sweetly, "understand?"

Sollux nodded, "yeth...hai. Arigatoo."

Aradia grinned very wide and hugged him, so incredibly happy for that one little spark of understanding. Sollux hugged her back, then in a sudden notion of spontaneousness, picked her up, hop creature and all, and carried her back to their makeshift camp. 

She laughed and exclaimed in her strange language, wrapping her arms around him so she wouldn't slip. Sollux laughed too, it was the first time in years that he had laughed, and it made him so happy just to know that he still could.

Later that evening, the two ate the hop creature and tried working out a better way of communication. Sollux settled on hand gestures and pictures. They drew animals and translated them between their languages, they drew shapes and symbols and talked that way for awhile. Then Aradia drew a female troll with ram horns, and then a male troll with dual horns, and circled them.

"Family," she murmured quietly.

Sollux looked at the sketch, then looked at her, she trusted him. And called him family. He hasn't realized until now just his much he really wanted her to trust him. He had only just met her, and couldn't even understand her language, yet he loved her. He knew he did. He hadn't expected her to feel even close to the same, and now he didn't know how to express his joy.

He took her hand, trying to find words, but she just smiled and shook her head, curving his hand and curving her own next to his, creating a heart shape. She looked up at him, still smiling so sweetly. 

Sollux leaned forward, capturing her soft lips in a kiss. She wrapped her arms around him, and everything they could neither one express in words could be felt. 

The moment was interrupted when Sollux's communicator went off. He hurried to answer it, never letting go of Aradia though.

"Hello? CG? GC?" He asked.

"Guessed right the first time! gallowsCallibrator said to move our now. Serket isn't dead, but we need to move! carinoGeneticist out!" Karkat called from the other end, clearly sprinting.

Sollux looked at Aradia, who understood the urgency in Karkat's voice and nodded determinedly. She was ready to face the highbloods, and Sollux was as ready as he was ever going to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this whole chapter was a little cheesy, perhaps even cheesy enough too make some nice nachos. I hope I developed the relationship well, and not too quickly. I hope you enjoyed all the nachos! There's probably more to come in later chapters. Oh and tears, there will be plenty of those.


	10. The Cat and the Dog

Nepeta groaned and rolled around in her makeshift prison, it was constructed out of bamboo and tied tightly with some sort of twine that seemed indestructible. Her claws probably could've cut through it, but they'd been taken along with her communicator and even her headband.

The human girl was sitting with her back to the cage, and sniffed the air eagerly when Nepeta woke up. Jade's strange barkbeast tail wagged in an odd, jerky fashion, and she turned to face Nepeta.

"So the cat warrior is awake?" She mused, grinning maliciously.

"I can't believe I got into this mess over a nut-creature..." Nepeta mumbled, slinging and arm over her face.

"Yeah pretty stupid," Jade agreed, "now c'mon lazy cat! We actually expect our prisoners to work while their here!"

"What? Seriously? And what if I attack you?" Nepeta asked, her blue tail lashing in annoyance.

"I'd rip out your throat with my fangs. Plus there's tons of trolls and people around, so you'd be dead in an instant if you even tried!" Jade replied, opening the 'door' on Nepeta's cage.

Nepeta stepped out warily, allowing herself to be pushed along by the Dog-girl.

"So, when /will/ you let me leave?" Nepeta inquired. After all, she had places to be.

"Dunno. Trespassing and attacking one of our tribe is serious, so it depends on how well you work off your debt. A week is probably the smallest sentence anyone's gotten," Jade replied, her ears bobbing slightly as she walked.

Nepeta sighed, "but listen, I have a very impurrtant mission to take care of, and I could be called away any day now!"

"What's so important that we'd let you go?" Jade asked, a slight growl in her unusually cheerful voice.

"My friends. They're trying to overthrow the highbloods, and they /need/ me!" Nepeta explained.

"Well, we'll see. I'll give you your communicator back, and if when you get called I've decided to believe you, then maybe you can go. Until then though, you're gonna be working around here!" Jade said, chucking Nepeta's communicator to her.

Nepeta caught it and strapped or to her wrist, "fine. I'll do what you want, I won't even try to escape, I swear it." After all, her captors hadn't tried to kill her, and this poor run-down place looked like it needed the help.

Jade growled, "good."

Over the next couple of days, Nepeta changed out bedding for sick trolls, met some human children and gave them food, She even started to enjoy the Weeaboo trolls and humans. It turned out most humans understood troll language, and a few spoke it. Though the children seemed better at the Weeaboo dialect. 

Nepeta was busily slicing some vegetables for a soup Jade was preparing when the dog-girl asked her a question.

"So, you're a mid-blood troll, and you're still helping your low-blood friends?" 

Nepeta stopped for a second, then continued slicing, "yes. That's the whole point of it you see, that blood caste shouldn't matter. Karkat has to be an outcast, Sollux a slave, and Kanaya a care taker of the mother grub...it's not fair. I want it to change. Don't you wish for change sometimes?"

Jade sighed and dumped meat in the pot, "how could I not? I have a barkbeast tail and ears. My mother said when I was little I got really sick, and a first guardian saved me by fusing his energy with mine. It was a miracle I lived, but I was stuck with some of his traits, ears, tail, and unusually sharp teeth. I want that to change. But more than anything I want my tribe, my family, to be able to live among the other trolls. We're forced into hiding and it's wrong. The Condecse is a tyrant and she should be stopped-no, killed."

Nepeta's tail twitched in interest, maybe she could really help these creatures, "then why not help me? Together we'd be even stronger! We're fighting for EVFURRYone's equality after all...so why not you too?"

Jade looked at Nepeta, surprise in her evergreen eyes, "you'd want help from someone like me? Not only a human, but a mutated one?"

Nepeta nodded, "we're a group of five outcasts, purrety sure we need all the help we can get."

"But...what if you're lying?" Jade growled, suddenly defensive.

Nepeta shrugged, dumping the vegetables in the pot, "guess that's a risk you'd just have to take."

That night, Jade left Nepeta's door open, saying she doubted the cat-troll would run away weaponless. Nepeta smiled and curled up on the ground, finding the cool night air refreshing, much more so than the dank caves she was used to.

She was half-asleep when her communicator went off, she answered immediately, and could tell Jade was listening too.

"Hello? This is arsenicCatnip, who's repurrting in?" She asked.

"carcinoGenetisist! Listen AC, gallowsCallibrator said we need to move out now, Serket's still alive, but we need to move out! CG out!" Karkat called over the communicator, then clicked out.

Nepeta looked at Jade with pleading, desperate eyes. Jade's ears flattened, she seemed to be thinking.

"Only if I and another troll go with you, to make sure you aren't lying, and once it's over and done you come back and serve the rest of your sentence." She decided.

Nepeta nodded, "of course! But you'll have to fight to survive if you go you know..."

Jade grinned cunningly, showing off sharp canines, "Death to the Batterwitch."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, most of the trolls now have a human or another outcast to help. Now to figure out how they're going to accomplish these goals...


	11. A Smell of Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning about this chapter, there's a lot of violence depicted. Terezi is put through quite a bit, and there are descriptions of major blood loss, broken bones, and that sort of thing. Since this chapter is merely how Terezi escapes and contacts the others, I would advise you skip it if blood or violence upset you. However, being a war story, there will be more violence later down the road. 
> 
> (P.S. This chapter is the reason for the Mature rating. It's just way more violent than I usually write, so, just to be safe. Yeah)

Terezi groaned, pulling against wrist restraints, why hadn't Vriska or the human killed her? Why wasn't she dead from blood loss?

Terezi sniffed the air, trying to get her bearings. It was nearly impossible with her splitting headache though. She could tell that her arms were chained at the wrists to a wall, and her ankles to a floor, but other than that she had no clue what the room she was in looked like. Her cloak was gone, her red and teal outfit was stained with dry blood, and her hair hung loosely at her shoulders. She inhaled and exhaled shakily, it hurt to breathe. It hurt to think.

Footsteps echoed in the hall, and the higher-blooded stink of sea water and over-confidence told Terezi it was Vriska.

The pirate waltzed up to Terezi's cell door and unlocked it, walking in.

"Good morning Red-Glare," Vriska hissed mockingly, calling Terezi by her FLARP and ancestral name.

"Mindfang," Terezi rasped out, her voice was hoarse and cracked at the end of the word.

"You're in pretty rough shape, be grateful I spared you," Vriska sighed, as if her mere presence here was a huge inconvenience for her.

"Why /did/ you keep me alive?" Terezi asked hoarsely.

"I want information on your friends whereabouts of course! I know you aren't alone, and I'd bet my ass that your leader is that horrible little angry mutant troll...what was it? Kat something..?" Vriska answered.

Terezi gritted her teeth, "no clue what you're taking about, I just wanted a little revenge for going blind."

Vriska scoffed, "please, I know better than that Rezi. And I will find out the truth, even if it kills you."

Terezi grinned devilishly, "I'd like to see you try Vris, I really would."

Vriska scowled, "was that a shot about your lack of sight?"

"Wow I hope you didn't strain any brain muscles trying to realize that."

Vriska punched Terezi in the gut, making her cough harshly, "you little teal bitch. Tell me who else is involved in this."

Terezi shook her head and pursed her lips, which got her a sharp kick in the ribs. She kept refusing to talk, and after about an hour, Terezi was really praying that the next time Vriska hit her, she would just die. By this point she was sure she had several broken bones, the restraints were cutting into her wrists, her cheek was swollen and she was covered in blood, her mouth was dry and tasted like vomit mixed with blood, since she'd thrown up blood a few times, and her legs were shaking from trying to support her weight but her wrist restraints made it so she couldn't fall over. At this point death would've been welcomed by the teal blood, but Terezi knew she had to keep fighting. For karkat and everyone else.

"STUBBORN BITCH!" Vriska shrieked, her composer completely gone by now. She viciously kicked Terezi's stomach and grabbed her horns, slamming Terezi's head into the stone wall, "WHY WON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT I WANT TO KNOW?"

Terezi mustered up all the dignity and strength she had left, and spit in Vriska's eye.

Vriska shrieked again and literally beat Terezi unconscious. Then she walked out of the room, pulling off her fancy cloth gloves, which were now stained with teal.

Terezi forced herself awake soon after Vriska left, and was thankful she didn't need her eyes. Considering the poor shape her face was in, she assumed it was too swollen for her eyes to have been any use if the worked anyway. She grinned despite her pain and started attempting to pick the lock on one of her restraints. 

While Vriska had been flipping out, her coat had swung up high, high enough for Terezi to snag the keys she kept in her pocket. Vriska had been in such a rage that she didn't even notice.

Terezi heard a 'click' and her left hand was free. She quickly unlocked the rest of her restraints and immediately fell over. She was free, but in such rough shape she wasn't sure she could walk.

Terezi gritted her teeth and ripped the skirt off her outfit, leaving just the pants beneath it. She wrapped the skirt tightly around her torso, to stop the bleeding and apply pressure to her likely broken ribs. She unlocked the ankle restraints, then she bit her lip and stood up, shakily unlocking the cell and stumbling out.

She shook her head despite her throbbing headache, attempting to regain some focus. She felt uncoordinated, and everything smelled like blood. She couldn't tell where she was going unless she felt along the wall. Terezi grimaced at what a pathetic sight she must be.

She managed to wipe most of the blood off her face, and slowly started smelling out where she was. She fumbled around and found the stairs, then climbed up them until she caught a whiff of fresh air, a window must be close. Terezi felt around until her fingertips brushed smooth glass. She grinned like a madman and punch the window, her hand felt broken anyway. She scurried out the window and tumbled onto a wide lawn. She realized that this was the highbloods' castle.

She hurried as fast as she could when she heard the alarms, disappearing into the woods. She found a stream and cleared away all the blood she could, then she lay on her back, breath shallow and ragged. It hurt her to breathe and hurt even more to move, but she knew she had to keep going, for the lowbloods' sake.

She groaned and bit back a scream as she stood up, her entire body protesting as she did so. She leaned against a tree and coughed up some blood. Well that couldn't be good. She realized that there was no way she could kill Vriska soon enough for the rest of the plan to work, the others would have to move on before Vriska died.

Terezi sat at the base of a tree and dug her communicator out of her shirt. She was amazed Vriska hadn't found and confiscated it. She inhaled slowly and contacted Karkat, this was happening, the movement was starting, and it was going to be one hell of a blood bath, she could smell it.


	12. The First Strike

One fallen tree, then another, then another, then a missed branch and the sound of muffled swears. Dave chuckled quietly as karkat tumbled down a steep incline, cursing under his breath as he hit practically every rock on the way down.

Dave slid down gracefully and stopped next to the troll, who was laying face down on the ground.

"You want to get up and stop being a clumsy moron?" Dave chuckled quietly.

"Fuck you Dave," karkat grumbled, pulling himself up, "and damn you for being taller than me," he added as Dave pulled him over a particularly high rock.

"I still want that kiss," Dave said as they started traveling through trees instead of on the ground.

"There's a time and a place Dave, and that would be the time of never in the place of nowhere," karkat replied, bounding through the trees like a flying nut-creature.

"Oh c'mon admit it, you totally would've kissed me if your friend hasn't communicated you," Dave persisted, close behind karkat.

"I'm not dignifying that with a response," karkat hissed.

"So yes then," Dave said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Karkat sighed, exasperated, and smacked Dave in the face, "oops sorry."

"You did that on purpose assface," Dave grumbled. 

 

Karkat didn't reply, just continued leaping through the trees. He stopped suddenly when the highblood's castle came into view, he stopped so suddenly that Dave almost crashed into him. 

Dave let out a half squeak and tumbled off the branch. Karkat caught him by the arms and pulled him up.

"Watch your step idiot!" Karkat hissed quietly.

"It's like you're hugging me right now," Dave whispered back.

Karkat had his arms locked in front of the human's torso to keep him from dropping, and promptly tugged him up onto the branch and let go.  
Then karkat slid down the tree quietly.

Dave dropped silently into the undergrowth next to him, "why are we leaving the trees?"

"Gotta lay low, we're close to the palace now, highbloods could be anywhere. Here, take this," Karkat added, handing Dave a metal headband like his own with the cancer symbol on it.

"Why am I taking this?" Dave asked, locking the headband around his neck like a collar.

"If you're fighting with me then you're wearing the team symb-gog dammit Dave it's not a fucking collar! What are you, a gog damn bark beast?" Karkat growled lowly when he saw Dave wearing the band around his neck.

"Woof," Dave whispered.

Karkat turned away in mock annoyance, though in reality he was hiding his blush, "come on idiot."

Dave gave another soft woof and tailed behind Karkat.

A few minutes later, Dave suddenly stopped and lurched behind tree, pulling karkat with him.

"What the hell are you--?!" Karkat was cut off as the human put his hand over the small troll's mouth, subduing him.

Karkat stared in surprise and fear as a purple blooded troll passed them, walking past where they had been just seconds ago.

"You're welcome," Dave said softly in Karkat's ear.

Karkat pushed away from the human, "yeah thanks, now let's go catch up to him! That looked like Makara, he's my target."

Dave smirked and narrowed his crimson eyes in determination, "lead the way."

The two crept silently through the woods until they were only a few feet behind the highblood. He stood about seven feet tall, his horns only adding to his height, and the fuchsia H symbol on his right arm could only mean one thing; he was Gamzee Makara, karkat's childhood moirail and current target.

Karkat nodded to Dave and they sprung into action, Dave leapt onto the troll's shoulders; since Dave was only a few inches shorter than the highblood, he brought him down easily. Karkat then jumped in with a sickle raised high.

Unfortunately Gamzee was ready for them, he rolled out from under Dave and swung out with a massive club.

"Karkat motherfucking Vantas!" Gamzee said in a slow, deep drawl.

Karkat couldn't tell if he sounded angry, happy, or both. It scared the hell out of him.

Gamzee struck out without hesitation, sending karkat spinning through the air. He landed with a solid thunk and hissed, standing back up and rubbing his severely bruised cheek, this was it. He leapt forward with the agility of a cat, calling out for Dave to do the same. The human rolled easily out of the way of Gamzee's heavy handed blows, following Karkat's lead and leaping back and forth quickly, making targeting nearly impossible for the highblood. 

Dave flipped out of the way of a club strike and landed in a crouching position, extending his arms as karkat ran forward, using Dave's back like a springboard. He shot forward with deadly accuracy and landing two solid strikes across Gamzee's throat, sending him reeling backwards as purple blood rained down.

Karkat turned and wiped the blood off his sickles, "good job human. We make a decent team."

The highblood fell with a loud 'crash' making a few gurgling noises before his sounds stopped all together.

"Hell yeah we make a good team kitten," Dave said, prodding the dead troll, "so...he knew you?" 

Karkat grimaced, "yes. We used to be moirails, back when we were wrigglers."

"Killing your best friend? Ouch," Dave said, adjusting his collar and wiping the purple from it.

"That bastard is NOT a friend. He stopped being a friend the moment he betrayed us," Karkat growled.

"So...should we probably move out before another highblood comes by?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Karkat said, taking off through the undergrowth again.

"What are you supposed to do next?" Dave asked quietly as they ran.

"Find a safe place to hide until the others contact is with the good news of more dead highbloods," Karkat replied.

Before long, the two found a small cave and went inside.

"I like our other house better," Dave said, sitting against a stone wall.

"It's a hiding place, not a home, and it's not 'ours'. You're just fucking trailing after me like a lost baby quack beast," Karkat growled.

"Can I have that kiss yet?" Dave asked.

"For fuck's sake, I will never kiss you. Not now, not after the batterwitch is dead, not if winged barkbeasts flew out my ass!" Karkat exclaimed, "I will not now, nor will I ever, in any way, shape, or form-" Karkat stopped when he realized Dave was standing in front of him.

"What?" Karkat hissed. 

The human put a hand on karkat's back and used his other hand to tilt karkat's chin up. Karkat's heart started beating about ten times faster, and his instinct was to push away, but instead he found himself leaning up as Dave leaned down, pressing against his chest as their lips met. Karkat's hands slid up to loop around Dave's neck, and he tilted his head, savoring every second of the kiss. 

It felt like fire and electricity, warmth and passion, desire and, more than anything, love. Karkat had never felt anything like it before, and it was pretty clear Dave hadn't either. 

When they finally pulled away, Karkat found he was already aching for more, "wow," he breathed.

 

Dave exhaled softly, "yeah, wow." 

Neither boy said anything for a few minutes, just stood in a close embrace. Karkat brushed some of Dave's hair aside, "so...you really wanted that kiss, huh?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty flushed for your cute ass," Dave said. 

Eventually karkat came back to his senses and pushed away from the human, blushing wildly, "y-yeah, well, this doesn't change that I hate you." Karkat didn't hate the human at all really, and Dave knew it.

Dave just smirked, "whatever, I still get hate makeouts then right?"

Karkat's blush grew wider, "can you just stop talking?"

Dave snorted and lay down, patting beside him, "it's cold, come lay in my arms."

"You're infuriating," Karkat said, laying in his arms anyway. Now they just had to wait for the others and hope nothing else went wrong. Step one, complete. Now for the rest of the plan...


	13. A Little Sunshine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Behold! I have returned! With..like one kinda short chapter. But still! Proof that this story is still alive! Things are going to be about this pace for the next few chapters, but then there's going to be some intense action (assuming I can actually write intense action).

Leaves swirled through the air as her movements stirred the once still wind. They were getting closer to the highblood's palace now. Kanaya looked behind her, Rose was keeping up fairly well. She was evidently in better shape than she looked. They stopped just before the woods ended, Kanaya's mark was inside the palace, so they'd need to find a way to infiltrate.  
The two women sketched out a few different ideas in the sand, but soon wiped them all away, they were useless.   
"Who are you after exactly?" Rose asked.  
"A seadweller named Eridan, he's one of the empress's most valuable assets."  
"If we could find a way to get him in the sun, it'd burn him up, perhaps we can lure him out instead of infiltrating?" Rose suggested.  
"I'm not sure we could, he's too smart too come out here unless it's evening...but that does give me an idea," she said, a faint smile forming on her fanged mouth.

It was near midnight when the fish warrior patrolled the castle. The empress had ordered him to start doing a night guard as well, likely due to the recent rumors of rebellious low bloods and pesky humans running around. Eridan wasn't worried though, he was a good shot and he was sure nothing escaped his watchful eye. 

Kanaya went out first, using her rainbow drinker glow to draw attention fully to herself. She had to get this just right if this plan had a chance of working.

"Excuse me, I'm quite lost..would you mind helping me?" She asked, sounding weak and even stumbling a bit.

Eridan raised his gun and narrowed his eyes, a Jade blood..? Well, he didn't see a reason she'd be consorting with the low bloods, Jade bloods had it pretty good in comparison after all.

"Wwell go get more lost, this is the castle an' wwe don't appreciate wwanderes," he replied coldly.

There was a muffled sound behind the seadweller, and as soon as he turned to look for the source, Kanaya ran forward and knocked him down, slamming her horns against his back and actually breaking skin. Rose dropped down and slammed his head into the ground before he could react, knocking him out cold. 

Other guards were heading over to investigate the noise, so the two girls moved as quickly as they could, dragging the unconscious troll into the woods. 

Kanaya inspected the gun Eridan used while they waited for the sun to rise. "I'd just shoot him, but it haven't the slightest clue how this gun works..I don't even see a proper trigger," she murmured.

Rose had tied Eridan to a tree using several low hanging vines in the woods. She looked up, "yes well you'll have to figure it out later, the sun will be up soon, and I'm not sure about you, but I'd rather not stick around to watch this thing burn up."

Kanaya nodded, "right. Are you sure he can't escape?"

Rose nodded, "the only way would be if someone came along and untied him, but by the time they notice him gone it'll probably be too late."

"Alright, then we best be on out way to a new hiding spot, from there we just have to wait for Terezi to call in with her mission success," Kanaya replied, taking Rose's hand and heading off deeper into the woods.


	14. A Little Rusty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! I kept on almost forgetting about this story, and I probably would've canned it a long time ago if not for all your wonderful comments! Thank you for sticking by me even though I was gone for so long! Here's the latest chapter! There'll probably be five or six more in total..but it could be more, just know the story is probably around 3/4 complete!

Sollux was trekking through the woods with Aradia on his shoulders, trying to keep to the shade as much as he could. She was talking happily in her native dialect and looking around with interest as they passed through the thick tree canopy. Sollux smiled a little, glad that she was happy, he only wished he could understand her a little better. 

He jumped and nearly fell when Aradia shrieked a minute later, pointing up ahead. 

"What ith it?" He asked, startled.

She mimicked growling and barking sounds and got down off Sollux's shoulders, glaring into the woods. Not even a minute later, a pack of feral barkbeasts came into view; they looked hungry, and vicious.

Aradia snapped a branch off a nearby tree and swung it at the wolves, yelling loudly in hopes they'd scare easily. Unfortunately this just made them run right for the trolls. Sollux yelped and pulled Aradia out of the way before they could get her, and he shot one of them into a tree with his psionics. 

"Run!" He said, urging her forward. She protested angrily and instead punched a lunging wolf right in the throat. It dropped and twitched, flopping around before going unconcious. Sollux blinked in surprise as Aradia kicked another wolf, sending it flying. She have him a look that seemed to ask if he was going to help or just keep being useless, then she turned back to fighting the wolves. 

Sollux shook his head and hurried next to her, launching the wolves left and right with his powers. He looked over when he heard Aradia scream, one of the wolves had her arm and was tearing into it viciously. Sollux managed to pull the beast off and flung it down a steep hill, it yowled the whole way down. Sollux picked Aradia up and ran, pressing his hand to her rust red stained arm. 

"Okay?" He asked. 

She whined a bit, but nodded. Sollux sighed and ran until they got somewhere safe to shelter, a little cave tucked behind some trees.

He set Aradia down, she was looking paler by the minute. "It'th okay..it'th okay," he murmured, mostly trying to reassure himself.

She squeezed his hand gently, murmuring, "o..kay."

He sighed and nodded, then tore off some of his shirt to try and wrap up her arm with. 

They barely had her arm wrapped up when they heard a voice by the cave entrance. "Well you'll neeeeeeeever by able to storm a castle in that condition. I should just...put you out of your misery."


	15. Spider Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy everyone! Dang I fell off the map for awhile there huh? I nearly forgot about this story! But I can't leave you guys hangin now can I? I promise I will finish this story! With any luck it should just be four or five chapters away from completion. My interests have shifted a teeny bit, so I'm also super obsessed with Undertale now, ya know, like most homestucks. If anybody wants to check out my other little undertale related project going on, my tumblr is   
> http://milkssecondfavoritecookie.tumblr.com
> 
> Anyway, onto the update! There will be more to come, hopefully by April!

They had been trekking through the woods for the past couple of days, and Nepeta was starting to think they were lost. 

"This isn't good..I have no idea where we are! How far away was your camp from where you captured me?" She asked, looking over at Jade, who was curiously sniffing a tree.

"Oh, um..not far, just a day south of our usually hunting area, you know, the one you trespassed on," she replied.

"Ugh, south? Oh this is just purrfect! We've been going the wrong direction for two days! Why didn't you say anything?" She asked.

Jade shrugged, "hey you're the meowbeast with the plan, I just figured you knew where you were going."

"Uh..guys? I hate to interrupt..but um..I feel like we aren't safe here.." Tavros said quietly, backing away from something.

"What is it now you big grub? Last time it was just a harmless herd of tiny lusi," Jade huffed, walking over. She stopped and stared, "oh..cat troll, come look at this.."

"You can call me nepeta you know," she grumbled, padding over. She blinked, staring down the ridge at what had startled Tavros so much, it was a pile of bones with brightly colored horns scattered about, definitely troll.

"...good call Tavros, let's high tail it outta here," nepeta said.

They had only just turned to leave when a massive spider lusus came lumbering out of the bushes. It sniffed and looked around, seeming to sense prey nearby.

"They can't see very well...so just don't move," Nepeta whispered.

Jade flicked her ears, trying to remain still, and Tavros gulped, staying as motionless as he could. He turned his head just barely and it knocked into a loose branch, sending leaves and twigs raining down. The spider lunged at them.

The three let out a startled yell and just barely dodged the beast, turning and running the other way. Nepeta turned back and sliced the beast in the face, getting her claw weapon lodged there by accident.

"Oh catnip!" She squeaked, trying to free her hand.

Jade ran over and bit clean through the metal claws, breaking her free, "now run moron!" She barked. 

Nepeta gulped and nodded, running back away with her while the spider shrieked and twisted around, trying to get the metal claws out of its face.

They all stopped suddenly when they hit a tall dirt cliff in the forest, nepeta tried to climb up it, but with only one set of metal claws, and her own claws not being enough for a good grip, she slid right back down.

"Nh..looks like I'm stuck, get out of here! I'll distract the lusus," Nepeta said, taking off her wrist communicator, "If I don't catch back up with you...tell my friends what happened," she said, tossing the communicator to Tavros.

"No way!" Jade barked, "we aren't leavin you kitty cat, we're gonna beat the hell out of this thing together!"

"But Jade-"

"NO ARGUMENTS!"

Nepeta tried to counter, but the spider caught up to them then, it shrieked and lunged, nepeta barely dodged and Jade just managed to pull Tavros out of the way with her.

The girls stood up and faced the thing while Tavros searched around for his tranquilizers, those would help if he could just find them!

The spider hissed and shot webbing at them, Jade leapt over it and Nepeta rolled under it, the dog girl scratched at the beast's eyes and nepeta used her one metal claw set to take at it's underside, slicing it pretty good.

"Don't bother with the eyes!" Nepeta called, "Spider-Lusi are practically blind as it is!"

Jade growled, "now you tell me!" She flipped away from the thing and helped Nepeta stand back up away from it.

"Wait..it has bad eyes..?" Jade said.

"I'm I just said that yes?" Nepeta replied, confused.

Jade turned and looked around, there was a steep drop off to the left, "does it use scent or sound to help it hunt?" She asked.

"Both, but mostly it relies on feeling movement," Nepeta replied, the spider seemed preoccupied with trying to stop its bleeding at the second.

"Alright," Jade said, going quietly over and picking up a big rock, "stay perfectly still, both of you," she said. Nepeta nodded and Tavros looked down, trying to focus on not panicking or something.

Jade spun around and hurled the rock into a tree right next to the ledge, it made a loud sound and sent some leaves flying into the air when it landed. The spider turned and shot towards it, thinking some of its prey had fallen down.

It tumbled right over the ledge, shrieking and flailing its spidery legs as it plummeted into the ocean below.

"HA! We did it!" Jade exclaimed.

"Th-that was pretty amazing thinking," Tavros murmured.

"Well it was mostly Jade," Nepeta said.

"No way! Without you I would've still been clawing at the thing's eyes!" She replied.

"um guys.." Tavros murmured.

"Well I've been a lusi hunter my whole life, I just know these things," Nepeta said.

"Guys..?"

"Well it was really helpful!" Jade woofed.

"GUYS!" Tavros squeaked, finally making them look over.

"...um, we're near the ocean..right? So..um...is that the empresses castle over there?" He asked, pointing to a large building, just visible in the distance through the trees.

"Oh my stars!! It is! We went the wrong way but somehow we found another way to the castle! This is our lucky night guys! WOOHOO! Let's go!" Nepeta chirped, skittering off towards the building.

Jade sighed and smiled a bit, "doesn't take much to put her back in a good mood. Heh, good eye Tav, let's go."

Tavros smiled a bit and nodded, following after the huntresses.


End file.
